BIPOC Reading Series – July

Heldáy de la Cruz (pronounced "el-dye") is an artist and community organizer. Through illustration and design, his work explores the identities that are lost and found within both the queer and Indigenous diaspora. These, alongside his undocumented status, are at the very core of his community work.

Heldáy's artwork and writing has been featured in Milk X Magazine (Hong Kong), The Huffington Post, AIGA Portland, She Shreds Magazine, Ecotrust, Street Roots, East Oregonian, The Oregonian, ACLU of Oregon, Design Week Portland, Brand New Podcast, Social Justice League Podcast, Talking with Ghosts Podcast, Homebase Gallery, CultureStrike, Define American Film Festival, and the U-FLi Center at Brown University.

He founded and co-leads a collective called UndocuPDX that provides resources, education, and news for the undocumented community. He is the Design Director of Provecho Magazine and the in-house Senior Designer at Ecotrust.

Kyle Yoshioka thinks and writes a lot about belonging. He is the founder and editorial director of Provecho, a publication about the intersection of food and identity, and co-hosts the BIPOC Reading Series at Literary Arts. His writing projects have been supported by the Independent Publishing Resource Center, the McCormack Writing Center Workshop (formerly the Tin House Workshop), and the Andy Warhol Foundation's Precipice Fund. Kyle is working on his debut novel about a multigenerational Japanese American family that explores whether inheritance is destiny.